TSP funds at the Monday close

Stocks carried the day. The C Fund closed at $122.3935, up 1.48%. The S Fund finished at $116.0970, up 1.85%, the strongest of the core funds. The I Fund added 0.31% to $64.2093. The F Fund gained 0.23% to $20.8127, and the G Fund edged up 0.04% to $20.0988.

Two moves cleared the 1% mark among the individual funds, the C and S funds. The L 2055 through L 2075 funds also gained 1.11% each.

Why each fund moved the way it did

The C Fund tracks the S&P 500, and the numbers line up. The index rose 1.48% in the data I have, and the C Fund rose 1.48%. Over five days the fund is up 2.54%, and it sits 11.53% higher for the year.

The S Fund follows the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which is the part of the U.S. market outside the S&P 500, mostly mid-sized and smaller companies. It beat the C Fund today at 1.85%, but over five days it is up 1.19% against 2.54% for the C Fund. Year to date it leads at 14.19% versus 11.53%.

The I Fund tracks the MSCI ACWI ex-US ex-China index, so it holds foreign stocks outside China. Its 0.31% gain was modest, but it has the best year to date of the individual funds at 14.6%, and it is up 1.7% over five days.

The F Fund follows the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index. The 10-year Treasury yield fell about 1.24% on the day, to 4.686, and bond prices usually rise when yields fall. That fits the F Fund's 0.23% gain. The fund is still down 0.12% over five days and 0.23% for the year.

The G Fund pays a Treasury-based rate and does not fluctuate with the market. Its 0.04% is just interest accruing.

The L Funds

The L Funds blend the five core funds, so their day depended on how much stock each one holds. L Income, the most conservative, rose 0.35%. L 2030 gained 0.63%, L 2040 gained 0.83%, and L 2050 gained 0.94%. The L 2055 through L 2075 funds, which hold the most stock, all gained 1.11% and are up 12.92% to 12.93% this year. The pattern is simple: more stock, bigger move on a strong day.

Index funds and ETFs behind most IRAs

The broad indexes rose together. The S&P 500 gained 1.48% to 7600.5. The Dow added 1.32% to 53178.41. The Nasdaq Composite led at 2.13%, closing at 25913.9. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) rose 1.53% to $373.84, which makes sense because it holds the whole U.S. market, with the S&P 500 as its core.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) gained 0.51% to $85.02, in line with the smaller move in the I Fund. Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) slipped 0.11% to $72.15. That is a small mismatch with the falling Treasury yield, and a one-day figure like that is noise. The index figures are labeled as the prior session close, so timing may differ slightly from the TSP numbers.

What it means for your plan

A strong Monday is pleasant, but it is one day. A 1.48% gain does not change a retirement plan any more than a 1.48% drop would. If your contributions and allocation match your time horizon, nothing about today asks for action. Check your mix on a schedule you set, not because of a headline. This recap is general information, not advice for your situation.